2 Schematic diagram of serial dilution involved in the experiment. Tenfold dilution starting from 10^1 to 10^6 from the stock solution. 1ml of each dilution series inoculated into the microcosms.

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... water content was adjusted weekly by weighing the water loss, which included also aeration of the microcosms. 1 ml of soil suspension of each dilution series was added to the respective microcosm (Griffith et.al, 2004). Microcosms were subjected to pre-incubation for 8 weeks, under laminar flow condition (fig 2.3) (Spohn et al., 2013). ...

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... stock incubation solution 10 0 with 1g of soil (for each replicate) in 10 ml of demineralized water was prepared (Gowsalya et.al.,2014). Tenfold dilution series of 10 -1 to 10 -6 were diluted from the stock incubation solution (fig 2.2). 2sites x 6 dilutions x 4 replicates, three sterile soil per site, altogether 57 microcosms were considered for the experiment. ...

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... P was labelled to the beech plants using wick method (Mayer et.al, 2003). A hole was drilled into the stem and cotton wick was inserted inside the stem with the other end of wick in plastic vial with the lid, containing 1ml of 33 P and the solution was transferred into the stem (fig 2.4). To ensure the complete uptake of 33 P, sterile water was added to the vial and plants were let to absorb the rest. ...

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... was continued with regular oxidation and watering to adjust moisture level. After four weeks the microcosms were harvested, the plant biomass was separated from the microcosms at regular intervals in order to maintain the homogeneous activity in the soil (fig 2.5). The soil samples ...

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... were later pipetted into 96-well microplate and the concentrations where determined photo-metrically at 820nm. (fig 2.6) ...

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... biomass phosphorous (MBP) was 62% higher in P-rich compared to P-poor soil (p =0. 0.2649) (fig 3.2 a), but the sites were not significantly different from each other ( Table.1). ...

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... MBP content of each dilution not significant from each other at both sites. Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen(MBN) determined by the CFE method was 17 % and 52 % higher in P-rich than P-poor soil, respectively (fig 3.2 b,c). MBC and MBN showed a similar pattern between the treatments ( fig.3.2 b,c). ...

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... biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen(MBN) determined by the CFE method was 17 % and 52 % higher in P-rich than P-poor soil, respectively (fig 3.2 b,c). MBC and MBN showed a similar pattern between the treatments ( fig.3.2 b,c). Different colours indicate the dilution treatments given to sterile soil from 10 -1 to 10 -6 along with sterile control soils rich soil (fig 3.3.a). ...

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... 3.6 b). Due to the error while performing enzyme assay, we have lost some results owing to contamination in P-rich soil, hence fewer data plotted in the linear regression (fig 4.2). However, the cause of uneven higher litter P-uptake in the dilution series especially in 10 -5 , 10 -4.2. ...

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... soil characterization, it was found that extractable C, N and P content were higher in the P-rich site BBR than in the P-poor site LUE (Table 1).However Pmic was higher in the Ppoor site after the litter addition (fig 3.2a). According to Heuck and Spohn (2016) decreasing P pool increases the net mineralization of organic P, which leads to the higher microbial biomass phosphorus content in P-poor soil. ...

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... justification is the non-homeostatic behaviour of microorganisms, which is triggered in presence of high P-availability, whereas P-limitation causes homeostasis ( Makino et al., 2003, Scott et al., 2012, Heuck et al., 2015. However, lower P uptake in P -rich soils (fig 3.2) is due to a lack of competition among the microorganisms in P-rich soils as mobilization of P is not the primary mechanism in ecosystems P-nutrition ( Zaidi et al., 2009, Richardson and. Similar findings were also made by Heuck et al. (2015) who states that very small changes of P-recycling by soil biota could be seen in P-rich soil (BBR) after litter addition. ...

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... Achat 2010, Kouno et al., 2002). Higher microbial biomass C; N and P found in sterile microcosms (control) compared to rest of the dilution treatments (fig 3.2), indicates that the sterile control was contaminated. No correlation was found between microbial C and extractable organic C (3.4 c,d) because the soil was sterilized before the incubation and the addition of litter (carbon source) caused no C-limitation among microbial communities. ...

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... 33 P uptake was slightly higher in P-rich sites than in P-poor soil (fig 3.5) and this difference between the two soils was significant (p=0.0006.). The result contrasts a stronger microbial phosphatase activity in P-poor soils (fig 3.6, table 2). The high rate of microbial P immobilization at the P-poor site most likely restricts the release of mineralized P into the soil solution ( Pistocchi et al., 2018). ...